March and April bloom with green events

It’s a great thing about March and April: the eco-events spread across the calendar like daffodils in your lawn. Today I officially started feeling swamped with great upcoming classes, talks, screenings, and so forth, so I’m letting y’all in on the ones I know about. If I’m missing something, fill it in below!

March 15: See the film The Electricity Fairy, a documentary about energy and its impact on Appalachia, at UVA’s Minor Hall, Room 125, at 7:30pm. Last year C-VILLE published my story about Dominion’s new power plant in Wise County, Virginia, and that plant along with many of the same folks I interviewed are featured in the film.

March 18: Zero Garbage Challenge! Hear from Charlottesville resident Rose Brown about her quest to radically reduce her trash output. She produced only two bags of garbage in a year! Hear how she did it at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Unitarian Church at 7:30pm.

March 28-April 11: ABODE‘s own Lisa Reeder will teach a mini-course through UVA’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies called Planet to Plate: A Study in Slow Food (Goat Cheese). We’re talking the history of chevre, a visit with Caromont Farm’s Gail Hobbs-Page, and…tastings! No-brainer, folks. Sign up here.

April 16-17: A two-day “fruit school” at the Local Food Hub’s educational farm in Scottsville, taught by Bill Whipple, a.k.a. Professor Barkslip. He’s said to be a wizard of tree and vine, specializing in unconventional and organic growing methods. You’ll learn all about grafting, cloning, propagation, and tree care. To register, call 286-2176 or e-mail info@localfoodhub.org.

April 23: More fruit! It’s a one-day fruit grafting intensive taught at 912 Woodfolk Drive in Charlottesville. You’ll get an overview of the organic approach to growing fruit in our area, plus various grafting methods and rooting techniques. Call (843) 694-8896 or e-mail sara.m.tansey@gmail.com to register.

Also on April 23 is the 2011 Eco-Fair. More on that later! This is enough for now, I say. One must leave time for gardening and appreciating the return of the birds, after all.

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